That Special Someone
by Hwikek
Summary: Kagura finds herself drawn to a mysterious, yet enchanting person in English class as does someone else.
1. Kagura's Crush

"Hi, I'm Kolin Lambert created by popular fanfic author Elred Bluegreen. I'm here to warn all of you that English class is gay. It might just be the gayest class in the history of classes. I mean most people like reading and writing, but not English class. Generally teachers don't even try to make it interesting for students. They just make you hear them talk and talk and talk before telling you that you have to write an essay or read some book with a vocabulary beyond teenage comprehension. But at...whatever the name of the high school is I'm at, it's all made interesting by...

**That Special Someone  
**

"...Which is me, and Yukari."

It was a normal day in Yukari's English class, or at least as normal as her English class can get.

"Okay, today we are going over sentences."

"Sentences?" Tomo's voice sounded as if a puppy had been run over. "Quit being boring!"

"I'm not boring you moron!" Yukari was particularly mad today, she'd spilled her favorite breakfast onto the floor in her rush to get to school on time.

"Gee, Yukari sounds mad," one of the students observed.

"Isn't she always mad?" his friend asked.

"I dunno, maybe."

The angry, white grind of Yukari's hand against the chalkboard made the students shiver in their seats. One student in particular feared whatever twisted schemes Yukari was concocting in her mind. He shivered at the thought that he might be the target of Yukari's attempts to rid herself of any lingering anger, since he'd kind of pissed her off the day they met. So Kolin Lambert tried to keep his head down.

"Stop doing that you idiot!"

"Damn it Yomi, shut your mouth!"

Kolin raised his head up to see the two "friends" arguing over something for the umpteenth time that day.

"Settle down you two!" Yukari bellowed with the screech of a pterodactyl. Instantly the two girls stopped, afraid of a chalk based assault on their faces. "Good," and with that Yukari turned back towards the board.

_Oh man_, Kolin droned in his head, _this is the worst class ever. Why did I ever think it was a good idea to do this foreign exchange thing anyway? Back in Washington there were hot girls in every class, why isn't that the case here?_

Kolin, like most high school boys, had a memorized list of important requirements that each of his classes needed to have if those classes wanted him to like them. 1. They had to have _something_ in their subjects that interested him. 2. They couldn't have weird, creepy, obnoxious students. 3. They had to have cool teachers. And 4. They had to have at least one attractive girl in the class. Why this last step was crucial Kolin wasn't too sure, but he certainly didn't mind the requirement.

"Excuse me, Mr. Lambert?"

"Huh?" Kolin looked up from the doodle in front of him.

"Why is that boy staring at you through the window?" asked Chiyo.

"What?" Kolin looked at the windows that lined the wall, the glass glistening brightly so he couldn't see through them that well. "What are you talking about? I don't see anyone." He turned back to his work as he had a suspicion that Yukari was glaring at him.

"But he was just there a minute ago." The girl turned back towards the glass. Chiyo didn't see anyone there this time. _Huh, I wonder where he went_.

Iseya poked his head up above the bottom of the window pane.

"There he is," whispered the boy, "Kolin, oh he's so cool." He knelt on the strange walkway that led down towards where PE was held. _Oh Kolin_, thought the boy, _we could be great together. If only I weren't so shy..._

"Hey."

Iseya's blush whipped towards the sound.

"What are you doing up there?"

"Oh," Iseya looked down on Ms. Kurosawa as her class looked up in amazement. "Uh, I'm certainly not up here staring at my crush," he laughed.

Minamo facepalmed, giving off an annoyed sigh, "Please come down from there, we don't want you to fall down and get hurt."

"Yes Ms. Kurosawa!" Iseya abruptly stood up and saluted her, "I'll get down right away!"

Sakaki flinched as someone stood up beside the window next to her, falling out of her desk. Kaorin who had been standing nearby gave a slight shriek which caused the class to face her.

"That guy! Who the heck is that guy?"

"Isn't he new here?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"I think I have PE with him, or maybe art class."

"I think I saw him talking to the Chemistry teacher once."

Kolin looked up, too late to see who they had been talking about. He figured that it wasn't an important matter, but it did feel a little creepy to have someone peering in through the window.

Kolin gave an unhappy frown as he mulled over what Chiyo had told him. _Who could be staring at me? I don't really have any friends here, other than Ohyama but he's sitting up in front of me._ Whoever it was, Kolin had doubts that he was a danger.

"Honestly," said Kurosawa, "Why were you up on the walkway spying on girls?"

Iseya began to stutter, tapping the tips of his fingers together in a nervous fashion. "Well you see, it kinda, sorta, wasn't a…I mean well, um." Iseya paused for a second, unsure of how much he should say. _Should I confess that I was staring at a guy? I mean Ms. Kurosawa isn't like Yukari but_—

"Just get to class," groaned Minamo, "you can creepily stare at her later."

"Well that's just the thing. But can I talk to you in private, maybe?"

"You can at lunch," Minamo smiled, "I have a class right now, maybe I can help you to not stare at people through the window."

Iseya happily nodded before running off towards his class. "Thanks Ms. Kurosawa," he said as he waved good bye, "I'll see you later!"

Minamo gave an amused chuckle. "Sometimes kids can be so silly, okay girls ready for class to get started?"

Kolin yawned as his pocket vibrated to life. A quick glance signaled that it was safe. Kolin saw that he'd received a message from Ohyama.

Ohyama: Hi :)

Kolin: ?

Ohyama: Gud news

Kolin: ?

Ohyama: I mnged to get dt

Kolin: wht?

Ohyama: Date

Kolin: who?

Ohyama: nt tllling

Kolin: k

Ohyama: cyrius?

Kolin: np

"What?" cried Ohyama as he stood up, "You're not at all curious as to who?"

"Uh," Kolin felt awkward as everyone turned towards him. He could almost feel their stares pressing, squeezing him, he had to say something to get them to turn away. "Kinda?" He was happy to note that everyone had lost interest in the outburst before he had even finished his reply. Ohyama slumped down into his chair, his elated mood spilling out of him like a stung water balloon.

"Oh grow up," said Tomo. The side of Yomi's mouth twitched unexpectedly, yet she remained silent.

"Can you believe that loser?" asked Tomo.

Yomi remained unusually stoic.

"Hey," Tomo waved her hand in front of Yomi's glasses. "Are you in there? Hello?"

Yomi was stone.

"Chunky Pony, answer me!"

"That's not my name and you know it!"

"You could have fooled me!" bellowed her hyperactive classmate. "But right now you're more like a chunky pony with its mouth so stuffed with chow that it can't bite anymore!"

"I'll show you who can't bite anymore!"

"Girls, girls," said Kimura, "We're in the middle of class right now. Please save your petty squabbles for later."

The two of them gasped. _This is the longest he's ever gone without being a creeper!_

"And don't forget to tuck in your shirts during PE all right?"

_And now it's over_.

"Hey Mr. Kimura, how should the guys dress for PE?"

"I thought I told you that we can't talk about these sorts of things during class. Save these sorts of things for when I'm not doing my lesson all right?"

"But you just said that the girls needed to…."

"No 'buts'," said Kimura, "It's time for class right now."

Lunch time came around and Iseya had begun to cry. He remembered the recent and relatively small crisis that had played out.

"_Oh sorry Iseya," Kurosawa had told him, "Someone just had an accident here on campus, I need to go over there now to help. But you can talk to me about your problem after school okay?"_

"It's not fair," Iseya sniffled, "why can't she be here so I can talk to her?"

Iseya watched as Kolin, his crush, walked by. He sniffled some more. _Why can't I talk to him? Ever since he saved me from those bullies that one day I just, I don't know why but he seems to be so, so cool to me. I just wish I knew why, I, I..._ Iseya felt himself blush. He was a little embarrassed to admit it, even to himself.

"Ah," said Tomo, "It's good to finally have school over for the day."

"What's with you?" Yomi grumbled, "You weren't even awake all day, I thought only Osaka did that."

"I was working so hard last night that I was fast asleep a couple times today."

"You, work?"

"Shut your mouth!"

Yomi rolled her eyes.

"Well today Kolin said something really interesting."

Yomi was not particularly interested in what Kolin had said. He was just some semi-rude kid from America as far as she was concerned.

"He said that, 'Ohyama and me once got stuck in an elevator for three hours and had to eat a ton of Cheetos to survive.'"

"Tomo," Yomi facepalmed, "Kolin Lambert would not say that."

"Why not?"

"First of all he never says anything, secondly that wasn't proper English, so he wouldn't say it."

"It wasn't?" asked Tomo.

"There is no such thing as 'my friend and me.'"

"Oh whatever," said Tomo as they walked home from school.

"Well what do you know," Yomi pointed at someone up ahead of them, "It's your boyfriend Kolin Lambert."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Tomo whined, "that's Uzu—"

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Yomi yawned uninterested in whoever it was her friend was talking about.

"Hey Lambert!" Tomo screeched, "Did you and Ohyama get stuck in an elevator and eat Twinkies to survive?"

"Uh, no."

"Really?" Tomo seemed shocked, "But that's what I heard from Osaka…."

"So, Lambert." The two turned towards Yomi. "Why are you anti-social?"

"It takes me a little while to warm up to people," Kolin nervously stated.

"It's been three months," said an irritated Yomi.

"I know right?" Kolin's nervousness made him feel as if he had to go on. "Actually Kagura sorta, maybe, kinda asked me out, I should have taken that offer in hindsight. Who knows how far it would have gone?"

"It wouldn't have gone that far," Tomo quipped.

Kolin frowned, "I didn't mean it like that. I don't have a perverted mind," he said in a hurt tone. _Oh snap, what did I just do?_

"Yeah right," said Tomo, "guys are all the same."

Kolin gave her an upset frown.

"Don't be such a baby," said Tomo, "be a man."

"Tomo," Yomi facepalmed, "what are you doing? Stop pestering him all right?"

"Fine." Tomo flipped the two others off as she walked home without them.

"Yomi." The girl turned to face Lambert. "Why is Tomo your friend?"

"Hmm." Yomi paused for a moment. Her mouth scrunched to one side as she pondered the boy's query. "I, don't know. We've just kind of hung out for a while. Maybe after so long I don't want things to change, but now that I think about it all she does is irritate me."

"Doesn't everyone?"

"Sometimes," said Yomi. "I'm surprised that Kagura had such an interest in you."

"I know." Kolin slumped against a nearby wall, facing the ground. "I admit, I like her."

"I thought you didn't like anyone."

"That's not true," said Lambert, looking up at the girl.

"Then why don't you ever talk to anyone?" Yomi watched as the boy shifted nervously. His shoulders moved up and down and he tried not to look at her. "Well?"

"I'm…not really a people person."

Iseya waited patiently for Kurosawa to arrive. _Where is she? She promised that she would be here to talk to me today!_ Iseya heard footsteps from down the hall. He poked his head out of the doorway to see who was coming. _Finally!_

"Sorry about that," said Ms. Kurosawa, making her way in as Iseya held the door open. "Now what was it that you wanted to talk to me about Iseya?"

"Uh," Iseya wasn't sure about telling his secret to Kurosawa, but he felt he needed to tell someone.

Iseya muttered, "I think that I…like someone, Ms. Kurosawa." Iseya looked down, his eyes darting from left to right.

Kurosawa sat down in her chair, facing the boy who tried his best to shrink down to the size of a quarter. "I thought as much, what do you like about her?"

Iseya's face flushed slightly. "That's just the thing Ms. Kurosawa. It's, my crush, it's a…." Iseya's eyes centered on the floor; he whispered, "a boy," so faintly that Minamo wondered if she had only imagined it.

"A boy?"

Iseya's head slowly moved back and forth.

"Hmm," Kurosawa leaned back in her chair. "Some one asked me a similar question not too long ago. Are you afraid to tell other people?"

"Not afraid just, nervous."

"It's okay Iseya," said Kurosawa, "there are others like you who like their same gender."

"It's not that I like guys in general," said Iseya, "just, him."

Kurosawa couldn't help but smile this was exactly like the last time, when she had spoken with Kaorin. She noticed that Iseya was giving her an odd look.

"I was just thinking," she said, "that's why I was smiling. Don't worry Iseya," Minamo placed a hand on the student's arm, "it's okay to be gay. You're not alone in the world. The real question is whether or not the boy you have a crush on is too."

"Uh," Iseya stuttered, "I don't think he is. Ms. Kurosawa, what should I do?"

Minamo paused for a second. "Well it might help you to find out. But," Iseya looked up at her, "What happens next is completely up to you. Only you can decide if you want to pursue this interest of yours or not."

"My mom keeps going on about wanting grandchildren and what if he says no?"

Kurosawa placed a soft hand on Iseya's shoulder. "I know what you mean. Don't worry, it wouldn't be the end of the world."

"But I like him so much…." Iseya seemed like he was about to cry.

"I understand," said Minamo, "I felt the same way about a boy when I was your age. I felt so excited whenever I saw him in class, during lunch, or after school. I wanted to talk to him, alas I was too shy. Now I wonder what might have been." Minamo studied the book on her desk. Iseya tapped his foot impatiently. "Sorry I was day dreaming. So I know how you feel. You want to ask him 'cause you like him, but you don't wanna ask him because you fear rejection. Just remember, you decide what you do with your life, Iseya. No one else is driving whatever it is you do."

"Do you have any advice on how to ask?"

"Why not ask it in a roundabout sort of way?" asked Minamo, "then he won't know it's you."

"Yeah," Iseya smiled for the first time in their conversation, "thanks Ms. Kurosawa!"

Iseya walked out of the classroom, watched by the Chemistry teacher from down the hall.

"Why don't students ever come to me with questions like that?" he asked his friend, one of the female math teachers.

"Because they hate you," she replied.

"What?" he spun to face her, "how can you say that?"

"Well, I'm your friend and even I hate you a little bit."

"I don't believe this," he said, "why do people hate me?" he joked.

"'Cause you're kinda lame, that's why we stopped dating remember?"

The Chemistry teacher merely sighed, "Friends should never date or work together in an office, it just makes things complicated." The math teacher gave a silent nod in agreement as footfalls greeted their ears.

"Hey you guys."

The two of them turned towards Yukari.

"Is it bad that I accidentally totaled Nyamo's car by rear ending it?"

They merely facepalmed in response because sometimes one face palm simply isn't enough. And as Yukari and Nyamo began to fight each other for the fifth time that day, the math and Chemistry teacher decided to go out for a bite to eat, maybe even a movie.

"That's why you don't talk to people?" asked Yomi, "Because you're not a 'people person?'"

"Yeah…." Kolin noticed someone coming towards them from the other end of the street. _Oh great_. Kolin could feel his stomach fill up with fear as a shape made its way towards them. _I can't believe that—_

"Hi Yomi, what's up?"

"Oh hi Kagura, I was just talking to him," she jerked her head in Kolin's direction. The boy gave a slight wave as a greeting before his hand instantly dropped to his side.

"Hey Kolin," said Kagura, "Sup?"

Iseya wandered his way home from school. In his adolescent mind he went over what Kurosawa had suggested. _Now how am I going to do that? He doesn't seem to be a dimwit so it might be hard to slip it past—_

Iseya swore that he heard Kolin's name on the other side of the wall. _I might as well just shimmy to the top of this thing_, thought the boy, he was a rather inquisitive lad.

"Not much," Kolin told Kagura, "especially not…uh, Thursday."

"What time?"

"Uh…."

"How about when school gets out?"

"I guess," he blushed.

"Where would we meet up?"

"Perhaps, by the gate to school?" he offered, unable to help noticing the feel of a line of sweat going from his temple to his chin. He brushed it off with the shoulder of his uniform, hoping not to leave a dark stain.

"Okay."

"WHAT?"

Everyone jumped. Shuddering like window covers in a storm the three high schoolers looked upwards.

"You two are going out?" Iseya seemed to die as he slowly slid off the top of the fence. "Find your happy place, find your happy place, find your happy place!"

Kolin could feel his brain go 0_0, as they heard a crashing, "ouch" emanate from behind the wall. _Wait, so Iseya likes Kagura too?_

"Wow, Kagura," said Yomi, "you attract a lot of weirdos."

Kolin balled up his fist. With his voice almost as loud as Yukari's he replied, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

**Author's Note: I would just like to take this opportunity to mention that despite that whole conversation Iseya had with Minamo Kurosawa I am not actually gay, but sometimes I pretend to be at parties because somehow girls think it's okay, some of them not all, for you to spanking their asses if they think you're gay. Though if there really are gay guys there things'll get awkward. And to be honest I stopped doing it after the first time they called the cops, thankfully, I left before then.**


	2. Warning No New Content as of Now!

**I'm sorry but there isn't any new content here right now! However if you'll be patient enough to wait two or three weeks I will most likely have added a new chapter to this story. Sorry if I made anyone upset! On a side note, does anyone want to see a second (final) chapter? If so be sure to mention that! (In a review, if you would be so kind. But PMing me works too.)**

lol Birdsong, you be hatin' for sure. You be hatin'.

You might wanna vote on my poll, unless you like TomoxYomi and SakakixChiyo being two of the most popular pairings and also being the "property" of KaguraxTomo, though it should really be TomoxKagura, you know why XD Now might be a good to check out Tropas Sopas by Anime Borat. Otherwise you'll totally be waitin' fo'ever (at least a day) for anything new from (French word for me). Just a heads up. On a side note I think that Birdsong guy likes to rage against my stuff, probably because I like going out of character. 


	3. The Big Date

"Hi. I'm Iseya, created by popular fan fiction author Elred Bluegreen. Now last time we all heard about how student Kolin Lambert was going to school along with the Azumanga Daioh cast and me. And if you remember correctly he was going to go on a date with the popular Kagura. And if you remember even more then you'll know that I have a huge crush on Kolin and felt crushing defeat when I heard about that date! Now we can see what I'll do in order to meet….

**That Special Someone.**

Actually I already met him."

The day that Iseya had heard Kolin ask out Kagura he had gone straight home to mope on his bed. A quick rush up the stairs and a leap onto his soft mattress were the first things he did when he got home. He lay on top of his covers and sulked in disappointment.

"I can't believe that he asked her out," Iseya muttered, "that stupid girl. He was supposed to like me." Iseya rolled over so that his back lay on top of his comforter. He got to his feet and shuffled over to his desk to get ready for school the next day. As he pulled out his things from his bag his face slumped onto the tabletop. "This is the worst day ever."

"Ah!" Tomo smiled, "Wednesday morning, another day of scholastic adventure!" the Wildcat sang out.

Yomi grumbled to herself as she walked to class along with her hyperactive friend.

"Don't be your usual buzz kill alright?" Tomo quipped. "You should be cool, Chunky Pony."

"I'll kill you."

"You and what army?" An angry glare quickly silenced the girl and the two of them began to near the classroom. Tomo caught a familiar face on her way down the hall. She snickered. "Look at that. Nerdy Ohyama is walking to class."

"I wonder where his pal and your boyfriend Kolin Lambert is."

"He is not my boyfriend!" Tomo snapped, "maybe you should listen to people instead of drowning them out!"

"You're one to talk."

"Oh shut up!" Tomo yelled before she walked into an open door, backwards. As the Wildcat rubbed the back of her head in pain Yomi muttered moron and went inside.

Iseya was sitting at his desk with a smile on his face. Overnight he had thought up a plan to try and stop Kolin and Kagura from hooking up. Now he was going to put that plan into action.

"Hey you guys," he said to a group of boys at lunch, "did you hear that the exchange student is going out with that Kagura girl?" He inwardly smiled as their mouths gaped.

"Oh no! This is terrible!" a boy named Arata cried, "we can't lose someone as hot as her to him! There must be something we can do about this crisis?"

"It's a real tragedy!" cried a boy named Aoi, "but I don't see much we can do about something like that sometimes you just gotta take these things as they come."

"I think it's wonderful," said Ren, "seeing such things as young love begin to flower in our very school no less! Knowing that these bridges in culture are forming fills me with curiosity and not jealous envy, I just don't see what it is that Arata and Aoi are cringing about."

"Of course you wouldn't!" they both yelled at him, "you wouldn't see how terrible it is to have the second hottest girl in the entire school going out with the American exchange student! You're always going off about those stupid stories you read, why can't you sympathize with our misery here a little, Ren?"

"I think we all need a moment to just think about this, we can't just give in to believing rumors." Iseya's focus fell on this boy for the first time. He seemed sickeningly calm despite all of the clamor going on around him. He let his hand rest against the side of his head as his friends continued to bicker. "Besides, I don't remember hearing anything about Kagura having a boyfriend in a while." Arata and Aoi both stopped yelling at Ren once they heard that. "I mean that would make quite the commotion. And what makes you say that she is going out with him? And more importantly, what's your name?"

"What's yours?"

Iseya hadn't meant for it to come out with an insulting tone. Though the question did cause the boy to blush before turning his face to the side in anger.

"_He's sensitive about that_," Arata whispered into Iseya's ear, "_he has a girl's name and it's—_"

"Arata, what are you doing?" the boy snapped, "you're not telling him my name are you?"

"What, no of course not!" Arata replied before whispering into Iseya's ear, "_I think any guy would be embarrassed to have his name._"

"Well, I'm Iseya. And I'm telling you guys this because I was there to see him ask her out, and she said yes."

"Really? What day was this?" Aoi questioned, wanting to cry.

"Yesterday."

"And why exactly were you around to hear that sort of conversation?" asked the boy whose name was still a mystery.

"Oh, uh…." Iseya stuttered before thinking up a convincing lie, "well when I saw a girl as popular as she is walking in front of me, I just couldn't help following her around a little."

"So you stalked her?" the boy asked, "that's a little creepy. And then you overheard her being asked out by that Kolin guy too?" The boy let out an uninterested sigh. "I don't really see a big deal to this whole thing. I mean, Aoi, you said yourself that she's only the second hottest girl in our entire school. Why not try the hottest one, or for that matter someone who'd actually find you attractive?"

"What the, don't say that I look bad! And besides," he went on, "even if she is a really sexy girl she is a little scary."

"A little eerie," Arata added.

"And a little dark too," Ren chimed in.

"And above all, totally out of our league," his three friends summed up.

"And so the number two girl is?" he asked, not really interested in their reply.

"It's probably a better bet than the number one," Aoi and Arata responded.

"You've got a point," Ren admitted.

Yawning out of sheer boredom the boy then asked, as if in passing, "when did they say that they were hooking up anyways?"

"Tomorrow."

"We can't let this happen!" Arata and Aoi cried, "Iseya we have to do something about this!"

"I don't want any part of your crazy schemes," their unnamed friend muttered, "count me out." And with that he got up from the table to take a walk.

"Well there goes Hanako," said Ren, "I can't believe that my friends Arata and Aoi would plot against the possible happiness that those two might share!" he sighed with a flare and drama. Then Ren smiled before saying, "I might as well go with you two on your dasterdly errands. However I will not go to help with your wicked deeds but instead to study the romance, however small, between Kolin and Kagura. For seeing love in action is always where I prefer to be."

And then Iseya spoke up to say, "that dude's named Hanako?"

"It's a pretty girly name," Aoi replied, "and that's why he hates to be called anything other than his last name, Yogi, or his nickname, Ko." But Aoi smiled devilishly before adding, "it's kinda funny to start saying his name in front of a girl and then watch him blush and squirm with rage. Even though it is sort of a mean thing to do."

"But why is he named Hanako?" asked Iseya.

"I don't know," Aoi replied again, "Ren, Arata and I have been friends with Ko forever pretty much but he never talks about his name and we only heard about it from his mom. His dad refrains from calling him Hanako you see."

Iseya couldn't help but still feel confused by what had gone on but shrugged it off. "So then the four of us are going to stop that date?"

"You three will," Ren corrected, "remember that I have only one desire, and that is to study the interactions between Kolin and Kagura. And if I am so able I will help those sparks to burn into a true, kindled romance filled with love if I can!"

"Why do we have to deal with this pest?" Aoi muttered.

"Because he's the only one of us with any money," Arata replied, "unless Ko decides to come back or that first year Iseya has any cash on him." Iseya shook his head from side to side. "So I guess flamboyance here is our best bet to get something to eat Thursday."

"How dare you call me flamboyant!" Ren spat, "just because I value true, selfless love above so many other things does not make me a gay stereotype!" And then Ren turned his back on them and left.

"We'll meet up with you tomorrow behind the school, Iseya," said Aoi, "then you can tell us more about this date that we have to stop."

"Actually those two will be leaving right after school from what I hear," Iseya told Aoi, "so we should probably meet up in front of the school but to the side where they won't see us as well."

"You mean like spies?" asked Aoi in a jubilant tone, "I've always wanted to try out something like that, yahoo!"

"_Don't make such a scene_," Arata whispered, "_everyone's starting to stare at us_."

"Ren made more of a scene than I did!"

"Ren used his inside voice," Arata sighed, "and no one bothers to pay attention to Ren when he goes on one of his 'love rants' anyways."

The two friends continued to bicker as Iseya left the group behind, passing by Ren in the hallway and eventually sitting down at his class before thinking to himself that Kagura and Kolin would never happen, which made him smile.

**The Next Day**

"I can't believe that we're actually gonna put this plan to stop their date into action!" Aoi cheered from behind a tree. "This is going to be so awesome!"

"I for one hope that the insidious plot fails."

"Why did we bring him?" Aoi sobbed, "he'll cause us to fail no doubt! Bringing someone as dumb as him is simply stupid!"

"You didn't forget that he's the only one of us that still has some cash left, did you?" Arata moaned, "sometimes you need to write these things down, Aoi. There just isn't any hope for you is there?"

"Maybe kicking your ass will give you a better idea of how awesome I am!"

"Aoi, quit acting like some five year old brat!"

"Guys!" Iseya snapped before Aoi could yell at Arata at the top of his lungs, "we need to focus! If we're not careful those two will be an item!" _And then I'll never get to be with Kolin!_ he didn't add.

Aoi poked his head out from behind his bark clad hiding spot. He saw the pretty Kagura smiling as she waited for Kolin to appear. Aoi noticed how the sun seemed to make her smile brighter and gayer, more like that of a kindergartener on a playground. He made sure to watch as she hung out by the white wall near the gate. Spying had its own visual perks. Any moment now that kid would show up. From that point the plan was confusing at best.

Arata was certain that the best plan would be to soak them both with a hose or water balloons. Everyone else agreed that that was the stupidest idea any of them could have come up with if they had tried for a thousand years. Ren had done his best to come up with plans that would actually help them on their date. Aoi had come up with a plan that was much more sensible. They'd try to make Kagura think that Kolin was insensitive and uncaring by tweaking little events and using little pranks under his plan. Then to top it off they would do their best to present him as some sort of criminal or bully. Anything to destroy that relationship before it could get any worse, for them. And then after a great deal of arguing they had gone with Iseya's plan, it had made the most sense.

"Hey Kolin!" said Kagura with a wave.

"Oh," said a nervous boy, "h-hi." He could feel his skin start to sweat a little as he got closer to her. "So," he tried with a smile, "where should we go? Uh…something to eat or a movie?"

"I am kinda hungry," Kagura replied, "let's fill our stomachs before we decide on what to do next."

"Yeah, uh, that does sound like a good idea. I could really do with a bite." _This isn't so bad_, Kolin thought to himself, _it's not like I'm in front of a bunch of staring people or something._ He felt himself smile. He saw Kagura smile too, which made him happy. "So where should we go?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, "I guess we could just go look around. Ya know?"

"Sounds like a plan." So she locked her arm with his elbow. Having her touch him caused Kolin to gulp. He hoped that he didn't seem nervous around her. She seemed calm and confident as she leaned against his frame. He felt his heart beat in his chest and his back straighten up. With each step they took he felt as if his cheeks would explode with anxiety.

"You seem tense," she said, looking up at him with a coy smile.

"No," he tried to joke, "why would I be nervous?"

"I don't know," said Kagura as she walked with him down the sidewalk, "maybe because you're worried that some jealous kid will try to mess us up or something."

"I don't think people really act that way," Kolin responded, "besides no one would mess with us. I mean we do sort of have a reputation."

"Yeah but I earned mine," Kagura told him, "while you just got one because you're from America and people think that those kinds of guys are all violent and dangerous like some sort of Los Angeles street group or whatever they're called."

"Nice to know I get so much _respect_."

"Heh, that's funny."

Kolin paused for a moment. _She thought that was funny? I hope she's not just trying to be nice._ Kolin inwardly frowned as he thought that this was the real explanation. _Well at least she didn't say that it was stupid. And who knows maybe she really did think it was funny?_

"You've been quiet for a while."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." He gulped again as he felt her arm move from locked in his elbow to around his neck.

"Hey, don't be so nervous," she teased, "you gotta chillax, Kolin."

"Uh yeah, maybe I do need to relax a little more, ha ha…." _How on Earth am I supposed to relax when you're hanging onto me?_ Kolin merely hoped that he could keep from seeming too rigid. But that was hard when he had a beautiful girl hanging onto him.

"Ugh!" Arata cried, "why are we doing this?"

"Don't you remember the plan?" whispered Aoi, "we're going to wait for the right moment to separate the two of them so that they get 'lost,' can't find each other, go home, and then never want to be together again."

"But this spying is so boring!" Arata whispered back.

"Do you get the creepy feeling that people are watching us?" Kolin asked Kagura.

"No, why do you ask? I mean people are looking at us as we go by but I don't see anyone stalking us or anything."

"I just can't shake the feeling that someone is out to get us."

"Drat!" Aoi whispered, "he's sharp. He caught onto us like it was nothing!"

"Maybe it is," Ren whispered, "I mean we do peak out from our different hiding spots about every ten seconds."

"Ren be quiet!" Aoi snapped as loudly as he dared, "you're going to blow our cover…wait you're trying to blow our cover aren't you? That does it!"

They were both smacked in the back of their heads.

"Shut up both of you!"

The two turned around to see Iseya. "We need to stay focused or this plan won't work!" he scolded, "if we, Aoi, me, and Arata can just stay quiet for a moment then they won't be as likely to notice that we're tailing them!"

"Do you hear whispering?" asked Kolin.

"Only from my stomach."

"You're right."

"Dammit we need to be quieter! We'll just continue our surveillance of them until we get a chance to put Operation: Achey Brakey to the test!" Iseya decided, his voice low. "So are you bunglers with me on this or not?"

Arata and Aoi traded a glance. Smiles spread across their faces. "You bet." Then their faces were filled with despair.

"Why are we being bossed around by a first year?"

"Man there must be some place to go," Kagura told Kolin as they walked down the street. She yawned before rubbing her stomach, feeling how full it was after dinner.

_I wish we had found a cheaper place to eat at_, Kolin's internal voice groaned, _that restaurant took quite a bite out of my disposable income._ Thinking back on the meal he found little to regret. It had been nice, quiet, personal and not too touchy. Physical contact wasn't really Kolin's forte, socializing of that sort was a little more than he liked. But he could still hear his pocketbook screaming from the overpriced meal.

"Have anything in mind?" Kolin asked her as the afternoon slowly became evening.

Kagura looked up at the orange sky for a moment. He noticed that with the way his heart was pounding any length of time felt like forever. "Hey!" Her face lit up with glee as she looked at him. "I think I have an idea, why don't we go dancing?"

"Dancing?" Kolin felt his stomach knot up as he let his mind contemplate the terror of dance. Dancing was something that could single handedly annihilate his comfort zone for a thousand years. So many people all around. If there was any environment where he would feel compressed by a mass of people it would be on a dance floor.

He remembered that time back in Washington. His friends had suckered him into going to homecoming his freshman year of high school. If he'd known before hand how uncomfortable the night would make him, he never would have gone. Being around large groups of unfamiliar people wasn't his favorite pastime. Everyone at the dance had kept bumping into him and personal space had seemed to have become a Victorian relic. The incessant grinding had been against his tastes. Luckily he had managed to sneak out before he had to endure the hours until midnight when the dance actually ended. A few minutes to walk home where he could try to relax.

"Yeah dancing!" she replied in an instant, "don't you like to dance Kolin? I think it's a lot of fun!"

"You do…?" he let out a nervous laugh. Internally Kolin felt his lungs expel whatever air remained in a high pitched squeak not unlike an unoiled door hinge.

"Are you okay Kolin?"

"Never been better," he lied, "dancing does sound like…_fun_. Know any good places nearby?" _Crap, what am I saying?_

"Yeah! It's this way!"

Aoi's head poked out from behind a trash can. Three others soon followed. "You know what this means?" he told the others, "this is our chance to put the first year's plan into motion!"

"I have a name," Iseya hissed.

"You could refer to him as something other than first year," Ren replied, "it is sort of rude."

"Oh quiet Ren! Why are you hiding behind the trashcan with us anyways? Find another spot!"

"Aoi," Arata grumbled as the night continued to come, making the sky turn into a darker shade. "Why do you always argue with Ren about every little thing?"

"Why don't you? He can be the most annoying thing to have ever lived sometimes!"

"Well I never!" snapped Ren. "To think my own friend would insult me like that! Maybe I should just go home and leave you idiots to do this on your own, hmm?"

"But, I thought you weren't going to help us with this plan," Aoi whispered.

"Well if I'm not here then how are you going to afford to get into that dance place? Besides I'm curious to see whether this idea will actually work. Though I'm loath to admit it I have never bothered to see how you can _un_romance a date. This could be pretty entertaining if it doesn't work."

"And if it does?" asked Aoi.

"Then I'll feel incredibly sad that I ever helped out," he sighed.

"Will you quit acting as if we're stomping on kittens or something?" Aoid snapped. "You keeping crowing on and on about us being vile and stuff. Will you cut it out?"

"I don't see how I possibly could while you continue to do these heinous activities," Ren replied.

"Will you two please shut up!" Iseya smacked their heads together. "We're never gonna get anything done with you two arguing _all_ the time!"

"We're getting absolutely nowhere," Arata muttered as the other three started a new round of bickering.

Kolin felt his stomach begin to tighten as he and Kagura approached the building. He couldn't help but feel his feet drag against the concrete with every step that brought him closer and closer. He saw Kagura's head turn a little towards him.

"Uh, something wrong Kagura?"

"Not really…."

"That's good." He quickly turned his head to face forwards, just in time to be standing in front of the door. Kolin reached his arm out, hoping that the door would be locked and he could just go home. Then he stopped. _That was a selfish thing I just thought. I know I won't enjoy dancing but…. I mean she does so, I have to at least give it a try._

"Is something wrong with the door?" asked Kagura, "you've been holding the handle for about a minute."

"No, everything's just fine." He pulled. The door didn't move. Kolin felt a wave of relief wash over his very soul. At that moment in time everything felt perfect for him.

"Kolin…that says push."

"My mistake." And the boy felt his heart sink into the dark, watery depths of self generated despair when the door easily swung inward.

"So they just went in that dance place," said Aoi from behind a pair of binoculars. "I think this might just be our chance to put this stupid plan into action."

"Isn't what we're doing sort of creepy?" Ren remarked. "I mean we're following two people who are out on a date all across town. This is sorta freaky when I stop to think about it."

"I hate to say it," Arata's voice filled the silence, "but Ren's right, this is creepy. I'm going home."

"Yeah me too," Ren replied.

"You're leaving me behind with the first year?" Aoi cried. "Come on you guys don't leave me here!" Their retreating backs left him in a fit of sobbing. "I can't believe that I'm stuck with this first year student," Aoi whimpered. "How can things get any worse?"

"And just what do you mean by that?"

"Can it Iseya! This stupid plan is never going to work! All my friends ditched me and I'm gonna go with them and maybe get some ice cream or something. If you want this idea to work then you're going to have to do it yourself. You got that?" And with that Aoi took off muttering curses on as many people as he could think of under his breath.

Iseya found himself alone in front of the dance building.

"Fine," he told himself, "if that's their decision then whatever! It would be easier to do this with some help but I can manage it on my own. All I have to do is get them apart, even if it's only for a moment. They'll never be able to find each other again in there. Then…." Iseya paused. He had no idea what it was that he was going to do then. He doubted that he'd be more likely to score a date with Kolin but if he kept him from going out with Kagura that couldn't hurt his chances right? If he went inside he was sure to find out.

"Hey come on Kolin!" said Kagura as she nearly drug him towards the dance floor.

"Sorry, I uh, blanked for a moment."

"It felt more like an eternity," Kagura commented. She then frowned at him. "Do you not want to dance me?"

"No, that's not it," he replied, "it's just…."

"Just what?"

"Uh, well you see…."

"Come on!" she said as she pulled him by the hand. "Let's go have some fun!"

_This isn't really my idea of fun…._ But Kolin didn't have much time to be apprehensive as he was quickly pulled into the crowd.

He felt his skin begin to sweat as the bodies of other people gathered all around him. He could feel his muscles clench tighter and tighter as faces and eyes seemed to stare at him, and only him. The different colored lights would give people an angry red tone. Yellow lights gave people a smiling life. At that point Kolin simply felt his body begin to sink towards the floor. His neck began to retract into his torso. And he hoped that he could shrink to a size that would be easily lost in the sea of faces. The only thing that directed him was the tiny hand that held onto his. Its tender grip moved him though the crowd. Then, it was gone, and he was standing all alone.

Then he felt his hand grabbed again. In the lighting he saw her brown hair. He felt himself being led off again, but in a different direction than before.

He was pulled away from the crowd of people. And…where was he going? He was being led to a darker portion of the building. Step after step, step after step. Now he couldn't really see her face, in fact he hadn't seen it since they went onto the dance floor.

"Hey, where are we going?"

She paused for a moment. Then she turned.

"Is something wr— Whmm?"

Kolin was cut off mid sentence, by a kiss.

His heart seemed like it was going to pound its way out of his chest. There was a brief second when he felt her lips leave his. He felt saliva gulp down his throat. Then she was kissing him again. The feeling of her soft lips on his, there was something…. With his heart thumping he did what he never thought he would. He kissed her back. He heard her giggle before she broke away.

"I—"

And then Kolin's heart stopped. This girl, she wasn't Kagura. She was— Tomo?

"—Never thought that you liked me that much." She held her red cheeks in her hands. "I came here with a couple of friends but they went to the bathroom and I was just by myself on the dance floor." She looked down at the ground with a timid smile of triumph. "Then I saw you standing there in the crowd and I pulled your hand closer. I thought it was strange that you followed me all the way here. I know I've never really seemed to like you but…I—" she stopped. Kolin had his hand on her shoulder.

"Tomo," his voice, it sounded like he was about to cry, "I, I thought you were Kagura."

"What?"

"I came here with her. She wanted to go dancing and I lost sight of her when we were moving through the crowd. When you grabbed my hand, I thought you were her."

"Then," she started to sniff, "you don't like me at all? Even after I kissed you just now?"

"Well, you've always kind of been mean to me," Kolin replied.

"So then what I just did was really stupid. Everything I do," she felt a tear drip onto her palm, "_why is everything I do so stupid?_"

Kolin watched as tears began to stream down her face. Her shattered sobs filled his ears and his heart. She blinked as fast as she could to try to make the pain go away faster. Her eyes were brightened by the painful droplets that wouldn't stop coming out. Kolin felt his cheeks droop towards the earth. It was almost as if each of her sobs, each of her tears, was slugging him in the gut as they continued to pour out of her soul.

Tomo stopped for a moment when she felt him place a hand on her chin. Her eyes glistened with tears as they met his. She sucked in a watery breath through her nose.

"Hey come on," he whispered, "you don't have to cry."

"_Why?_"

"Because, because, beca— Aw what the hell?" He kissed her again. Pressing his lips against hers, it made her sobbing stop for a moment. He never thought that he'd ever want to kiss Tomo but now here he was doing something he never expected. _I guess that's just life_, he thought to himself, _it confuses the hell out of you whenever it can._ But at least it was a cute girl.

As he drew his lips away, he saw Tomo rub her eyes with the back of her hand. Then as the painful lines that had dripped across her face reflected the light behind them she stopped sniffling. Her arms wrapped around his back as she hugged his with all the strength that her small frame could manage. Here was the crush that she hadn't told anyone about. The one that she acted like it never existed. Standing right in front of her. Comforting her. There was only one thing left for her to say.

"Thank you."

"I can't believe that I didn't have the 4,000 yen to get into the stupid dance place," Iseya muttered as he sat on the curb. "Maybe it's for the best. I didn't really feel good about hurting Kagura's feelings. I mean, I don't have anything against her; I just didn't want her to be dating Kolin. Now I think I should have gone with those other kids to go get ice cream."

As he moped along the side of the road he was unaware of another person sitting a little further off.

"I can't believe that Kolin ditched me in there!" Kagura yelled, her voice filled with anger and pain.

Iseya felt himself pause amid steps. "What?" he said aloud as his heart suddenly felt torn.

Kagura's head jerked up in shock. Some guy was standing right next to her and she hadn't even noticed. She felt creeped out by him but didn't want to let him realize that.

"Who are you exactly?" she asked in a calm but suspicious tone.

"Iseya."

"That kid that used to get beaten up by those bullies?" Kagura asked, breathing a sigh of belief because she knew she could take him on if the worse came to worst.

"Yeah…do you have to bring that up right now?" he huffed. Then he asked her, "so you got ditched by Kolin?"

"Yeah."

Iseya's face seemed to have been painted with a mixture of shock and disgust. "He really did that to you?" _This wasn't supposed to happen!_ Iseya told himself. _Sure I was trying to separate them, but I was the one who was supposed to do the separating! He wasn't supposed to leave her! I used to like that guy—_ "but now I don't like Kolin at all."

Kagura reached into her pocket and as she pulled out her phone she caught the last bit of Iseya's sentence. "Wait a minute, you _like_ Kolin?" she asked him.

"Uh, no," said Iseya, "I'm totally not like that! You're just talking crazy, err talking crazy talk right now." Internally Iseya felt that he might die of embarrassment after hearing Kagura say that. _Holy crap_, he thought to himself, _what if she tells other people I said that? How could I have been so stupid?_

"Hmm." Kagura seemed to doubt Iseya's story but she lost interest in whether he was telling the truth or not. She then decided that she had had enough of the town for one night. "I'll see you at school then," she told Iseya.

"Hey," Iseya said and then asked Kagura, "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving because of how he treated me," she replied. She was about to walk off when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around with tears in her eyes and yelled, "what do you want? Can't you just leave me alone, don't you see that I'm miserable?"

"Oh come on, Kagura," Iseya said to her, "don't let this ruin your whole day. So your date was a lout, but at least you two didn't get close to each other before you found out, think how horrible that would have been."

Kagura gave him an angry grimace. "That wasn't exactly much of a pep talk," she angrily told him, her voice more subdued compared to her outburst.

"Okay so I guess you're right," he admitted, "but still, think of how tough you are, I don't think there's anyone as tough as you are, you're like a boy or something!"

"I'll punch you in the throat!" she yelled at him. She moved menacingly towards him causing Iseya to cower like a kicked and beaten cur.

"Okay!" he whimpered, "I guess I'm not good at coming up with good stuff to say!" He hid behind his hands, nearly about to cry. He peeked between his fingers in fear and noticed something odd. Kagura stood above him as he kneeled down in fear. She had a small smile on her face and was trying hard not to snicker. _She's such a jerk_, Iseya thought to himself. Then he realized that she wasn't sad at this single moment in time, he'd managed to make her feel a little better after all.

"See, you're not so sad now," Iseya said, sitting on the ground looking up at Kagura, fear still firmly planted in his heart.

"You look funny when you're begging for your life," Kagura told him, "err, sorry that was sorta mean." She then increased the size of her smile as she continued to look down on him. "You know, if you weren't so into boys it might be fun if we went out on a quiet evening."

"No way!" said Iseya, "I'll never get over bo—" Iseya's face then turned a burning shade of red as he realized that he'd just admitted his most gut wrenching secret, almost to the entire world.

"We should still hang out though," Kagura told him, "we chill at my place and talk about boys or something," she said with a sly face. "I think it'd be cool to have you as a friend."

"Well," Iseya mumbled to himself, "okay, but you can't tell my secret to anyone ever!"

"I won't," she told him with a wink, "but I should probably walk my new bro home so he doesn't get jumped and wet himself."

"That sounds good, it'll also make my mom happy since she wants me to be straight," Iseya told her, "but then again she doesn't even know that I have feelings for other guys."

The two of them then walked down the street together looking at the shops and sights that filled the city around them. It was strange for the two of them. They'd grown up around this atmosphere yet on this night it just felt so different and as they continued to walk together a sense of joy began to form. They both smiled as they came closer to Iseya's house noticing the interesting features of his neighborhood, though not all of them made Iseya feel happy as they reminded him of a past where, and present, of being bullied. Soon they reached Iseya's house. He knocked on the door because his mother usually locked it after 9.

"Why hello son," Iseya's mother said as she opened the door and saw Iseya, then when she saw him with such a pretty girl she felt a little shocked. "Well hello there, what's your name Miss?"

"I'm Kagura," she told Iseya's mother, then the girl wrapped her arm around Iseya's shoulders, "and we're buddies."

"Do you have to get so physical?" asked Iseya.

"Oh sorry," Kagura replied, removing her arm from his shoulder.

Iseya's mother felt slightly confused by what she was seeing. She felt that she knew her son very well and she'd always noticed that he'd never shown any interest in girls. It wasn't that he ignored them completely, instead; Iseya had always failed to show any sort of romantic interest in any girl, no matter how she dressed or acted towards him. Now to see him bring one home, and such a pretty one, it made her feel concern.

"Well I'd better get going," Kagura told Iseya, "before it gets to late and my mom goes crazy with rage or something."

"Don't you wanna play some video games or something?" asked Iseya, "I mean you just got here."

"No that's okay, plus my mom told me that if I wasn't back by 10:30 she'd kill me. I mean what's up with that? I'm not five years old anymore. I'll see you at school!" she told him as she started to walk away, to return home after making a new friend.


End file.
